Key events
Play is starting around the grounds. I’m having a few technical difficulties so please bear with me!
Many condolences to Alec Stewart, whose wife Lynn has died after a long illness. Rest in peace.
Flags on The Oval pavilion will fly at half mast today.
Surrey County Cricket Club are greatly saddened to share the news of the passing of Lynn Stewart, wife of Alec Stewart.
Club Chair, Oli Slipper, said “The sincere condolences of everyone at Surrey County Cricket Club are with Alec and the whole Stewart family.
“Our very best… pic.twitter.com/fVolw1i91m
— Surrey Cricket (@surreycricket) April 14, 2025
Something for your elevenses: Osman Samiuddin is always worth reading, and here he is on ten years of the PSL.
Root and Brook to play for Yorkshire once
Head coach Anthony McGrath told reporters last night that Root and Brook were only going to be available for one game pre Test series: the match against Warwickshire at Headingley starting on May 2.
Ben Raine, fresh from his 81, is confident about Durham’s task against Warwickshire:
“We kind of had a feeling that we didn’t quite have enough then as the game naturally developed, Pottsy played a few shots and Hoggy hit the spinner over the top. We scored like 30 runs quite quickly and it kind of took us to where we said we wanted to be. We didn’t get a wicket tonight but it’s enough runs on this pitch and we know we can bowl a team out on this pitch, we’ve done it a number of times.”
And some thoughts on young Ben McKinney: “He’s always a very relaxed man, he’s cool and calm under pressure. He was getting a bit frustrated, they bowled straight, it was tough to score and they bowled really well to him. He’s a man beyond his years is Ben.”
Sunday’s round-up: Yorkshire, Kent win and more
Yorkshire’s whopping 504-run victory over Worcestershire gave Jonny Bairstow early-season bounce to his boots. Bairstow had declined to enforce the follow-on on Saturday, and batted on, and on, to set Worcestershire an implausible 610 for victory. Dom Bess collected his first Championship century, off just 115 balls, while Dawid Malan biffed an unbeaten 76 and Bairstow an unbeaten 44 – both pole-axing three sixes. Worcestershire’s fielders largely patrolled the boundary. A brow-beaten Worcestershire were then unzipped for 105 to become the first side in County Championship history to lose a match by 500 runs or more.
At Old Trafford, Lancashire, who swapped divisions with Yorkshire at the end of last season, were having a trying day against Northamptonshire. After a hard-fought morning, they lost three wickets in 19 balls just before lunch, one of them the steadfast Keaton Jennings, caught magnificently by Saif Zaib at midwicket, the third player in the match to get out in the 90s. Lancashire were soon following on in the chill of an April wind. Jennings once more strode out, this time making 49, and for the second evening in a row Anderson Phillip found himself drafted in as nightwatchman – he survived.
Spectators at Canterbury rubbed their eyes as audacious centuries by Tawanda Muyeye and Ben Compton sped Kent to an eight-wicket win over Middlesex. A chase of 316 to win had looked a challenge on paper but Zak Crawley pushed the launch button, making 58 off 66 balls, albeit after being dropped at third slip on nought. After he was bowled by Zafar Gohar, Daniel Bell-Drummond fell next ball, but Compton and Muyeye had it in the bag.
Nottinghamshire’s Haseeb Hameed made 92 in the absorbing game against Essex at Trent Bridge, while another hundred from Dom Sibley ensured Surrey are on top at the Oval, despite a debut five-wicket haul for Hampshire’s Sonny Baker.
Sean Hunt, having a match to remember at Hove, took all four Somerset wickets to fall as they chased 595 for victory against Sussex. Ben Raine (81) and the tail rescued Durham’s second innings against Warwickshire at Chester-le-Street. Rehan Ahmed pancaked 77 off 59 balls in his experimental opening position, getting Leicestershire’s second inning off to a cracking start against Derbyshire, while Glamorgan were forced to follow on by Gloucestershire.
Scores on the doors
Chester le Street: Durham 387 and 276-8 v Warwickshire 325 and 12-0
Trent Bridge: Nottinghamshire 347 and 233-5 v Essex 367
The Oval: Surrey 253 and 342-9 v Hampshire 219 and 35-3
Hove: Sussex 294 and 501-7 v Somerset 201 and 125-4
Headingley: Yorkshire 456 and 315-4 BEAT Worcestershire 162 and 105 by 504 runs
DIVISION TWO
Bristol: Gloucestershire 546 Glamorgan 385 and 106-0
Canterbury: Kent 218 and 316-2 BEAT Middlesex 222 and 311 by eight wickets
Old Trafford: Lancashire 228 and 126-2 v Northamptonshire 496
Grace Road: Leicestershire 484 and 291-8 v Derbyshire 393
Preamble
Hello from London town where spring has paired fashionable blue skies and a fleece. We roll into the final day of this round with Yorkshire and Kent putting their feet up after bombastic wins. Elsewhere, there is a cracker brewing at Chester le Street, and possibly Trent Bridge, while Hampshire and Somerset look in deep trouble. Lancashire and Glamorgan are following-on, but on decent pitches, (with Jennings gone, this is where you earn your money Marcus Harris.)A draw looks likely at Grace Road.
Play starts at 11am. Do drop by, we’ll be here all day.
